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Howard Dean's old outfit, Democracy for America, has announced the first winners of their recent poll to name their Progressive Villain Anti-Endorsements. Mitch McConnell was the lucky Senate winner — and Ohio's very own (even though we wish he'd go someplace else, like Oklahoma) John Boehner was selected as the House Progressive Villain.

As DFA's e-mail said, "These two represent the worst Washington D.C. has to offer. Their Republican Party is more interested in doing the bidding of corporate lobbyists and racist tea baggers to repeal, overturn or defeat President Obama at all costs than they are in doing what's right for America."

But the really good part is that they're not just blowing off steam. The e-mail continues,

Do I hear you saying, "He can't win?" Please. Assuming all is lost is the first step to losing. We can decide in advance to lose, or we can take the fight to people like the arrogant, lazy Boehner. Personally, I prefer the latter. I loved it yesterday at Tri-C West during Obama's speech when, on his first mention of Boehner, my section started hissing.

I urge you to go to Justin's website, read more about him, sign up for updates, and maybe even donate something. Justin is working hard, and he will make the contributions of the Legacy PAC and DFA go farther than a John Boehner golf swing.

Maybe Justin won't win. But maybe he'll do so well, he'll wipe that smug smirk off Mr. Boehner's orange mug. Wouldn't you like to see that? And you never know. Miracles do happen sometimes. We keep hearing people are fed up with incumbents. Why should that just apply to Democrats?

Exposure to politics can start at any age. Generally, individuals are exposed to politics through the views of their parents. During high school, students begin to question the beliefs of their parents and start to establish their own personal politics. If you need more information about the Democratic Party or are interested in joining or starting a Young Democrat Group, look no further.

Instructions.

1. Check your high school's list of clubs for a Young Democrat group. The members can teach you about the Democratic Party. Join if you are interested or just ask questions about what they stand for.

2. Participate in political activities and events. College and universities are often the center of political movements. Get involved. If you are interested in learning more about the Democrat Party, the school's Student Life and Recreation office can help you find a Young Democrat chapter.

3. Create your own Young Democrat Group. If your school does not have a group to fit your interests, set up a group of your own. Visit Yda.org to get started (see Resources below). From any page, scroll down to the "Tools and Resources" box. It is located on the left side of the page. Click the "Tools and Resources." The link takes you to a page that explains what help is available to you when starting a local Young Democrat chapter.

4. Find a local Young Democrats of America chapter. Enter your zip code in the "Find a Chapter" box at the very top of the organization's homepage. The site pulls up a list of chapters in your area. Use the contact information to get involved locally.

Let me add something! We need to get all the young Democrats active. We need them to realize how important it is for them to vote in November. It starts with the Young -- if you can get them to vote every election, then they in return will teach their children how important it is to vote and this will help for generations to come.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Public Education -- As a product of Alaska’s public schools, Scott knows that Alaskans know what is best for Alaska’s children. He favors local control of America’s schools and will work to streamline the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind law which gives Washington excessive control over Alaska’s schools. He will fight to return control to Alaska’s parents and educators and for adequate funding for Alaska’s special education needs. Scott served on the Sitka School Board, three times being elected chairman by his fellow board members. He helped shape state education policy as president of the Association of Alaska School Boards and was appointed to the National School Board Association, where he helped convince the organization to support Alaska Native language instruction.
Alaska's Universities a Key to Economic Prosperity -- Scott graduated from Sheldon Jackson College and believes that strong colleges and universities build strong, economically-diverse communities. Alaskans deserve continued support for a university strong in academics, research and teaching, career and technical education, and support for students. Scott will push for funding for scientific and technical research and new partnerships to expand federal agency research in Alaska.
Better Train Alaska's Workforce -- As the mayor of Sitka, Scott has seen the challenges of finding trained workers for public service, resource development, construction, health care, aviation and other jobs. Many of these jobs require some post-secondary education but not a four-year degree. That's why Scott will seek increased funding for middle and high school career and technical programs and teacher recruitment and more federal support for vocational education programs. Read more

Sen. Lisa Murkowsk

Senator Murkowski has focused her attention on fighting and fixing one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C. and that Congress addresses the problems we encounter due to our state's unique characteristics. Read more

While Jim Miller doesn't even include education on his website as a issue.

Alaskans face unique health care needs, including higher costs, doctor shortages and great distances required to travel for proper medical care. With about 20 percent of Alaskans living on the edge with no health insurance, Scott believes there are still too many gaps for Alaska families to fall through. The 14- month health care debate in Congress exposed the partisan bickering and special interests Scott will work against. He will fight to increase reimbursement rates so Alaska seniors on Medicare can find a doctor and will support new private sector efforts to launch Medicare clinics for seniors. He favors expanding Alaska’s Denali KidCare program which provides health care to 25,000 low income children and pregnant women. He will fight special deals and protections for the pharmaceutical industry that keep drug costs high and will push for more cost containment strategies to bring skyrocketing health care costs under control. Read more

Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Sen. Murkowski voted against the Senate version when it came before the chamber late last year and opposed the companion reconciliation measure as well.

Jim Miller -- I support the repeal of ObamaCare. First and foremost, there is no Constitutional authority for it. Currently nearly half of the state governments have filed suit in federal court because they share this view.

As a former deckhand in Alaska’s fishing industry, Scott knows the importance of the sustainable and responsible development of Alaska’s natural resources. After years of incorrect U.S. policy that shipped too many American jobs overseas, Scott favors policies that keep American jobs at home. Scott will work to expand opportunities for small business, which comprise the backbone of a prosperous Alaska economy. Although Alaska’s economy has done better during the international recession than most in the Lower 48, Scott believes much more action is necessary to grow the economy to create jobs for Alaskans. Alaska has an unprecedented opportunity right now to develop its considerable resources and launch a new energy economy for Alaska that will create good-paying, reliable jobs for decades to come. Scott knows the foundation of Alaska’s economy is the private sector; government’s role is to create a pro-business climate and provide the infrastructure for business to thrive. Read more

Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller do not have this as a issue on their websites.

If you would like to read more about the Democrat Scott McAdams click here

Why I hope Sen. Lisa Murkowski runs as a 3rd party because like to see both Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Jim Miller on the ballet -- wouldn't that be so cool. My family is very education based and at least Sen. Lisa Murkowski considers education as an issue.

Alaskans you must help Democrat Scott McAdams win this Novemeber. He is the best for the job -- All democrats help the little people more that any of the Republicans will ever even think about. Democrat Scott McAdams's website discusses a lot more issues than I can put on this blog entry, so please go to his website and read all about him and then pass this information on. Don't forget to click here to see Democrat Scott McAdams's website!

Ok, every time I turn around people are saying that all President Obama’s does is take Vacations. Today I’m going to write about his and other Presidents, who have taken vacation days in their first year in office. I’m going to write about those that were Presidents during my lifetime.

The number of vacation days away from the White House during their first year as President

1. Presidents Jimmy Carter spent all or part of 19 days

2. President Reagan spent all or part of 42 days

3. President George H.W. Bush spent all or part of 40 days

4. Presidents Bill Clinton spent all or part of 22 days

5. President George W. Bush spent all or part of 69 days -- total 487 days at Camp David and 490 days at is ranch, which equals 977.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Here's just a short list of some of the bills that Republicans have blocked, or attempted to block, since Obama became President:

Senator Franken’s Anti-Rape Amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill - Makes it so that women raped overseas while working for foreign contractors have the right to have their case heard in an American court instead of having their case mediated by the company they work for. Only Republican men voted against this, but it passed.

Benefits for Homeless Veterans- Would have expanded benefits to homeless veterans and homeless veterans with children. Republicans blocked this.

Health Care- Prevents insurance companies from discriminating against you on the basis of "pre-existing conditions". Requires that insurance companies spend 85 cents of every dollar that you pay on your actual health care. Limits health insurance companies profit margins. Republicans blocked this for months before it finally passed.

Health Care for the 9/11 First Responders who got sick from being at Ground Zero- Would provide billions of dollars in health care to help the 9/11 First Responders who were at Ground Zero on 9/11 and are now sick because of it. Republicans blocked this.

The Jobs Bill- Offsets the payroll tax for 1 year for companies that higher new employees, or people receiving unemployment insurance. Also gives other tax incentives to companies hiring new employees. Republicans attempted to block this.

Small business lending bill- would give LOCAL, community banks access to billions of dollars to loan to small businesses. Republicans blocked this.

Stimulus Bill- Pumped billions of dollars into state and local Governments to prevent us from sinking into a second Great Depression. Republicans opposed this but now want to take credit for the parts of it that we know are successful.

Oil Spill Liability- Raises the liability on what companies can be made to pay to clean up after an oil spill. Republicans blocked this.

Political Ad disclosure bill- Would have required all donors to political campaigns to reveal themselves. Republicans blocked this.

Immigration- Republican suggested comprehensive immigration reform until Obama supported it. Now they're rabidly opposed to it and even voted against their own legislation. Republicans blocked this.

Unemployment Extension- Would provide additional aid to the millions of Americans still on unemployment who are just trying to support themselves and their familes. Republicans blocked this bill for 8 weeks before it finally passed. Republicans blocked this for 8 weeks before it finally passed.

Fair Pay Act of 2009- Also called the Lily Ledbetter bill. Requires that women receive equal compensation to men for doing the same work. Republicans attempted to block this.

The next time someone tells you that the Republicans care about the American people just give them this list of all the bill Republicans wanted to fail.

It’s pretty obvious that the Tea Party is just the Republicans blatant attempt to rebrand themselves after the legacy George W. Bush left them with in 2008. The largest deficits in U.S. history, 2 unfunded wars, the economy in shambles, and one of the lowest Presidential approval ratings in U.S. history were enough for the Democrats to secure major wins in 2008. The Republicans, the self-declared “fiscally conservative” party, couldn’t legitimately use their brand anymore. George W. Bush had proven it to be inaccurate. They needed to rebrand themselves in a new way, so they could continue to call themselves “fiscally conservative”. So they created the Tea Party.

The concept was simple; create a party that could claim to be non-partisan while simultaneously pushing the agenda of the Republican Party. Get high-ranking Republicans to participate, like Sarah Palin and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, and use their connections to Fox News to promote it through the media as a “grassroots movement”.

Their plan seemed to be working, until the surveys started coming out. 57% of the Tea Party members identify as Republican. 13% identify as Democrat and 28% identify as Independent. That means there are more Tea Party members that identify as Republican than Democrat and Independent combined. Democrats beliefs that the Tea Party was really just a Republican astro-turf movement had been confirmed.

The Tea Party has also primarily endorsed Republican candidates. To date, they have endorsed just one Democratic candidate.

Ask a member of the Tea Party who they support and why. They’ll tell you they support the fiscally conservative candidate, and then name a Republican. Ask them how they can say that Republicans are fiscally conservative after George W. Bush. They’ll tell you that they didn’t support George W. Bush, or they’ll try to tell you that the Democrats were responsible for Bush’s deficits.

The truth though is that these people voted for George W. Bush in 2004. They voted for John McCain in 2008 even though he voted with Bush over 90% of the time. They endorse and support many so-called “fiscally responsible” candidates who were in office while Bush was President and also voted on his deficit busting budgets.

The Tea Party is NOT a grassroots movement. They’re not primarily independents, or run by independents. They’re an astro-turf movement sponsored and funded by some of the highest ranking members of the Republican Party, and right-wing media network Fox News.

2. Rand Paul called the Obama administration “un-American” for taking a tough stance with BP over the company’s handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

3. Rand Paul believes that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was too broad and should not apply to private businesses.

4. Rand Paul wants to abolish the federal departments of education.

5. Rand Paul wants to abolish commerce and energy, as well as the income tax.

6. Rand Paul favors a constitutional amendment banning abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.

7. Some of Rand Paul’s positions frighten even staunch conservatives like former Vice President Dick Cheney, who backed Paul's GOP opponent. Read more:

8. Rand Paul wrote the following about the Federal Fair Housing Act -- “But the Daily News ignores, as does the Fair Housing Act, the distinction between private and public property. Should it be prohibited for public, taxpayer-financed institutions such as schools to reject someone based on an individual’s beliefs or attributes? Most certainly. Should it be prohibited for private entities such as a church, bed and breakfast or retirement neighborhood that doesn’t want noisy children? Absolutely not.” Read More:

9. Rand Paul opposes everything the Democrats stand for!

10. Rand Paul is a part of the Tea-Party -- Do we need to say more!?!
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3. Jack wants the first piece of legislation for him to introduce to be that of repealing the deal for the pharmaceutical industry. A report by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare estimates this would save $200 Billion over ten years.”

4. Jack wants to create state-level Medicare fraud task forces. They would be able to find waste, fraud, abuse, and detect billing irregularities -- because they will be familiar with the provider networks.

5. Jack wants to close the corporate tax loopholes and shut down offshore tax shelters. This way the big corporations will pay their fair share and create jobs in Kentucky.

6. “Jack’s record as Attorney General demonstrates that he is the candidate voters can trust to get results when it comes saving taxpayers’ money. Jack has saved Kentucky taxpayers over $200 million by taking on big drug and oil companies.”

11. As a United States Senator, Jack will make sure that Wall Street reform: puts consumers first, prevents any institution from becoming “too big to fail” ever again, and protects taxpayers from excessive risk-taking in the financial system.

You can read more about John William “Jack” Conway for yourself at his website.

*I was not paid to post this blog entry, just trying to get the information out there.*

This is the first of blog entries about the Democrats running this November 2010. Please email me at juliemariecarr@yahoo.com if you have a candidate you would like for me to research and post about.

Back in November 2008, the message of “Get out and Vote” was everywhere. Now it is even more beneficial for Democratic to get out and vote in the upcoming November 2010.

We all know it will be hard to get everyone, who voting in November 2008, out to vote for the midterm election. However, we all need to put the same entry level we did in November 2008 in for the November 2010 election.

We need to start talking about why it is best for our country to not only support Democrats but actually go out and vote for them. We need to get out why Democrats are better than the Republicans. We can get this job done, but everyone needs to work together.

One small way you all are already helping is by making comments on blogs, this helps get the message heard even more. The more it’s out there the more people will see it.

Another way to help is by discrediting the Republicans and what they stand for.

Please remember that everyone has different opinions and this is great; however, right now the best thing a Democrat can do (to help us not only keep the House and Senate in November, but win even more seats so we can really get things done) is stick together. Right now is not the time to discredit any of the democrats, yes some are moderate democrats, but they are still democrats and any democrat is better than any republican when it come to the numbers we need in November.

We need to get the message of how the democrats have helped the people of this Country in the past years.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

As I see it this November is one of the most important mid-term election in a very long time.

The choice is clear! Do we continue moving forward, albeit slowly or do we give up the ship and go back to the failed policies that the Republicans pushed from 2001-2005.

Let's take a look at what we can expect from a Republican congress.

First, Social security will be in jeopardy, remember the Republicans wanted to privatize social security, imagine if that happened we would have all lost our security when wall street collapsed.

Second, the republicans would also want to end unemployment benefits. They have already tried that twice.

Third, they may even start another war based on lies like Iraq to divert our attention from the Republicans robbing us blind by Giving tax cuts to the rich while everyone else suffers.

Fourth, when the Republicans were in control the rich got richer, the poor got poorer and the middle class virtually disappeared.

Yes my friends, the choice is clear and now it is up to you. I am asking all my fellow liberal and moderate Democrats to make sure and vote in November and keep this country moving in the right direction. Actually, I am not asking I am begging you do not let the Evil Republicans get back in charge they almost destroyed this country once, please don't give them a second chance.